Maize Terpene Synthase 8 (ZmTPS8) Contributes to a Complex Blend of Fungal-Elicited Antibiotics

Overview

Journal Plants (Basel)

Date 2023 Mar 11

PMID 36903970

Authors

Evan V Saldivar

Yezhang Ding

Elly Poretsky

Skylar Bird

Anna K Block

Alisa Huffaker

Eric A Schmelz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In maize (), fungal-elicited immune responses include the accumulation of terpene synthase (TPS) and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP) enzymes resulting in complex antibiotic arrays of sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids, including α/β-selinene derivatives, zealexins, kauralexins and dolabralexins. To uncover additional antibiotic families, we conducted metabolic profiling of elicited stem tissues in mapping populations, which included B73 × M162W recombinant inbred lines and the Goodman diversity panel. Five candidate sesquiterpenoids associated with a chromosome 1 locus spanning the location of and . Heterologous enzyme co-expression studies of ZmTPS27 in resulted in geraniol production while ZmTPS8 yielded α-copaene, δ-cadinene and sesquiterpene alcohols consistent with -cubebol, cubebol, copan-3-ol and copaborneol matching the association mapping efforts. ZmTPS8 is an established multiproduct α-copaene synthase; however, ZmTPS8-derived sesquiterpene alcohols are rarely encountered in maize tissues. A genome wide association study further linked an unknown sesquiterpene acid to ZmTPS8 and combined ZmTPS8-ZmCYP71Z19 heterologous enzyme co-expression studies yielded the same product. To consider defensive roles for ZmTPS8, in vitro bioassays with cubebol demonstrated significant antifungal activity against both and . As a genetically variable biochemical trait, ZmTPS8 contributes to the cocktail of terpenoid antibiotics present following complex interactions between wounding and fungal elicitation.

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